MovieChat Forums > Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Discussion > Why didn't Victor Maitland's gang just k...

Why didn't Victor Maitland's gang just kill Axel along with the employee who stole from their boss?

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (20121)
4 replies | jump to latest

The short answer of course, is that Axel Foley is the main character/protagonist so in a movie context, Axel isn't going to get killed along with Mikey. But keeping Axel alive, ultimately allowed him to uncover the link between Maitland, drugs, and his friend's murder.

Let's put things into perspective, don't you think that had Victor Maitland's men gotten rid of Axel right then and there, the matter would have been viewed as either a robbery gone wrong; or even a hit related to the detective's undercover work shown in the beginning of the film?

Maitland must've been the most careless drug trafficker in America to not anticipate that he would be detected at some point. This is the same Victor Maitland that mind you, who put an ex-con like Axel's friend in a position where he could steal. Wouldn't it have been less of a hassle had Maitland allowed only a select few people handle the shipments containing drugs or money?

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

But if they had killed Axel it would have been a very short and not very enjoyable movie.

[–] strntz (12224) 4 years ago

It's every movie. In reality, they would simply have blown Axel and Jenny away and dumped their carcasses out in the desert instead of explaining in excruciating detail everything they planned to do afterwards.

[–] MrAnonymous (152) a year ago

Or for that matter why not wait till some time that Mikey is alone. In the grand scheme of their drug operations is it really worth bringing that much heat on themselves over some bearer bonds?

[–] gbu (579) 5 months ago

Yes i agree would of and should of been easer to shoot him there n then, however hes the main character so lets let that one pass as it was at the beginning of the film.
However towards the end of the film when Axel was caught in the warehouse and previously in the Private diners club Mike Ehrmantraut was made to look a fool, surely Mike would of wanted to be the one to kill Axel and I have no idea why he would just walk away and let someone else do it.